This World We Live In
by Tatiana Belikova
Summary: Rose Hathaway and Lissa Dragomir are two strongs, a fire and a spirit. They have been on the run for the past two years, since they were 15. Dimitri Belikov is a fighter, and a childhood friend of Rose's. He is dead set on finding them. As Rose and Lissa run for their lives, all three will uncover startling truths about the world they live in...full summary inside :
1. Summary

Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy

_A/N: Okay, so, I'm doing this thing called Camp NaNoWriMo in which you write a 50,000 word novel in the month of June. I've decided I'm going to post it on here as a fanfiction. It's going to be RxD, of course, but it's going to be different. I would appreciate constructive criticism, since this IS an original idea, one of my very own. The only thing I'm borrowing from Richelle Mead, at least on here, is the names of the characters. Okay, so this is the summary. I'll start posting chapters as soon as they are written and edited. You will most likely get an update at least three times a week (: depending on how fast I write, and how fast they can be edited. Anyway, here's the summary (it's a bit long):_

In a post -apocalyptic world, there are few safe places, and even fewer safe cities.

Most humans now have a small affinity for one of the elements: fire, earth, water, air, and rarely spirit.

But there are some who have a strong affinity. The strongs are able to manipulate the elements – and are killed for it.

A war decimated the earth, leaving ruins, woods, and small cities where humans are trying to build society again. No one knows the truth behind the war, but it is believed the strongs began it. And so, to stop it from happening again, they are killed.

Fighters are born with out an affinity and trained from a young age to kill the strongs. Their gift of being unaffected by the strongs' power make them ideal assassins.

Rose Hathaway and Lissa Dragomir are two strongs, a fire and a spirit. They have been on the run from Makenna's mother for the past two years, since they were 15.

Enter Dimitri Belikov, a fighter, and a childhood friend of Rose's. He is dead set on finding them.

As Rose and Lissa run for their lives, and Dimitri chases after them, all three will uncover startling truths about the world they live in.

Will they discover the whole truth in time to stop the disaster? Will Dimitri finally complete the quest he has been dead set on for the last two years? Or will Yeva, his spirit gifted grandmother, prove right?


	2. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy

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Prologue

_Running. _I was running for my life_. Again. _I took in a gasping breath of air, running too hard to be able to sob.

_Oh, God, why me? _I bit my lip, trying not to cry.

It made me wonder, did she kill my father, too. Was he a strong? Is that why I am?

A tree leaping in front of me interrupted my thought. I swerved to avoid it – right into a tangle of pricker bushes. This time I didn't keep the sob in. _No, no, no! _It can't end like this!

I heard them getting closer, coming in for the kill. I closed my eyes, tears streaming, as I surrounded myself with my fire for the last time.

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_A/N: The actual chapter will be much longer, but here's something, at least. I'll update more later tonight (: Let me know what you think, and if you have any ideas for me. All thoughts are welcome! _


	3. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy.

RPOV: 

I bolted straight up in bed, gasping. I looked around wildly, expecting to see fighter storming in, ready to finish me off. Instead, what I found was the creaky, rotting walls of the shack my best friend Lissa Dragomir and I had found to sleep in for the past couple of days. _Just a nightmare. _

I calmed my breathing down, listening carefully. All I heard was the wind sweeping through the trees, rustling the leaves. Somewhere in the woods, night creatures prowled, making almost silent _pitter patter _sounds with their feet, so quiet it seems to be heard on a subconscious level.

I look over to my left. About two feet away lay Lissa, her bloonde hair sprawled all over her pillow, her face innocent and unguarded as she dreamed. The wind blew harder, the cracks in the walls allowing it to sneak in, playing with my long, dark brown hair and tossing strands across my face. I batted it away, annoyed. I looked around, but the darkness prevented me from seeing much of anything past Lissa. I sighed in frustration and carefully lit a small flame cord around the perimeter of the cabin.

It was risky for me to do this; if there were any fighters with in a mile radius of this run down shack, they would come running. But I had to make sure no one was here now.

Once I had assured myself there was nothing in the shack save for the dirty floor strewn with leaves and the two of us, I let my fire dissipate. Slowly, I lowered myself to the hard, cold floor, pulling the bedraggled blanket over me. I laid there with my eyes open, afraid to close them for fear of dreaming again. I shivered. Being captured was my worst nightmare. Lissa and I had managed to stay relatively safe for the last two years, but that meant nothing. Fighter were everywhere.

The sky was brightening, showing through the cracks, by the time I finally succumbed to sleep once more.

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"Rose. Hey, Rose!"

I woke up to someone shaking me. "Mmm. Just five more minutes, mom," I mumbled, snuggling deeper into the raggedy blanket, the stinky floor pressing even closer. Wait. Raggedy blanket? Stinky floor? I'm not at home…

I sat up quickly, coming face to face with my amused best friend.

"So I'm mom now, am I?" Lissa asked, her green eyes sparkling with humor.

I rolled my eyes, collapsing back onto my blanket, then groaning as pain shot through my head.

"Rose? Are you okay?" Lissa's face appeared above my own, now dark with concern.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," I assured her, rubbing sleep out of my dark brown eyes. Sitting up again, I ran a hand through my tangled hair.

"What time is it?" I asked.

Lissa stuck her head out the door to look at the sun. "Oh, I'd say…about eight?" she called, glancing at me.

My eyes widened. "What! Eight? Already? Why didn't you wake me up earlier?" I scrambled up, bunching up my blanket.

Lissa simply looked at me, amused. "Calm down, Rosie. I have everything ready. I figured you needed more sleep."

Her face softened. "you had that nightmare again, didn't you?"

I looked away. "I'm fine, okay? But we won't be if we stay here any longer. C'mon."

She sighed, but dropped the subject, taking the blanket away from me and folding it carefully before placing it in its pack.

"Okay, let's go. We can find something to eat on the way. I heard there were some caves a couple miles south; they're supposed to be really secure and easy to defend, so we could stay there for a few days." I said, leaving the shack that had been our 'home' for the last two days. I kept glancing around, expecting to see fighters jump out of the bushes.

Lissa put her hand lightly on my arm. "Hey, it's okay. Don't be so nervous. You're making my skin crawl."

I took a deep breath. "Sorry. Just...the longer it's been, the closer they feel, you know? I keep expecting them to just jump out of nowhere." I sighed.

Lissa nodded, understanding. She had run away from her parents too, after all. Although, it's not like her parents were fighters, or even knew she was a strong. I sighed again. Why did my mother, Janine Hathaway, have to be the most dedicated fighter in the world? For that matter, why did she have to be my mother?

A sudden pang of loss bit into my chest. I wanted to know the father Janine kept away from me. If he was alive, I thought bitterly. I thought back to the dream I had last night. Sadly, it wasn't far from reality.

I shook off the thoughts and set off into the woods, Lissa trailing behind me.

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_A/N: This isn't the complete chapter; DPOV is next, but I decided to split them up. Hope you like. Tell me what you think, and any ideas you may have!_


	4. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own VA.

Dimitri:

I sat in front of the campfire, my eyes focused on the surrounding forest.

"Dude, give it up. You can't see anything. It's too dark," My partner, Mason Ashford said.

I didn't look at him. "You never know," I said softly, distracted.

"What's with your mission, anyway? Who are you looking for?" he asked.

I sighed, finally looking at him, no longer able to focus. "I'm looking for strongs, just like you," I replied calmly.

Mason just gave me a look. "What do I look like, Dimka, a gullible five year old? It's totally clear that there is more to than that. Wanna tell what it is?"

I sighed again. "Don't worry about it. All you need to know is that I am doing my job. And that is all." Subject closed.

"Whatever," Mason muttered. He stood up and walked over to the tent. "You have first shift."

I rolled my eyes, but got my tall frame comfortable against a tree. I allowed the fire to die down a little bit, going back to staring at the woods. _Where are you?_ I thought.

How long could two 17 year old girls hide? Is the world that big? Surely, after looking for Rose for the last two years I would have at least found her, or found a trail. But no. It was like she disappeared the minute we lost track of her for five minutes.

I couldn't help but recall the look on Janine's face when she told me her daughter, my best friend, had gone strong. I was astonished, and hurt, but Janine...Janine looked like her favorite puppy had bit her. She took it as a personal betrayal. Of course, I knew that it wasn't Rose's choice to become strong, but I had to find her, and kill her, before someone else did. At least I would make it quick; I knew if she was brought to the capital, she would have a humiliating death by her very own element.

The wind played in my shaggy, dark brown hair as I couldn't help but wonder why Lissa had gone with Rose. Yes, they were like sisters, but why would Lissa risk her life for a strong? It was mind boggling. I knew she was a spirit – she was very persuasive – but I couldn't wrap my mind around the fact that she ran with Rose. I sighed in frustration, and settled in for a long night of vigilance.

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_A/N: Sorry it's bit short. More coming up. _


	5. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own VA.

RPOV:

We'd been walking for several hours when I heard a noise somewhere in the surrounding woods. Instinctively, I pulled Lissa behind me as I crouched, prepared for any threat. The noise got closer.

Unfortunately, we were in a clearing, the grass a lovely summer green. Flowers of all colors were dotted with in the grass, creating a beautiful carpet for us to stand on, but not much to hide in. I watched the trees like a hawk, expecting fighters to jump out at any given moment.

Instead, what stepped out was a girl. And what a stranger creature she was! She had bright blue hair that almost reached her waist, which I presumed was dyed, but her most distinct feature was a scar that ran from her left eye down to her lip. _Dangerous! _My instincts screamed at me.

She was looking at the ground, muttering to herself as she plodded into the clearing. She stumbled on something, a rock, or a stick, causing her head to snap up for a moment, allowing her catch a glimpse of us. Once she righted herself she looked up, freezing.

Her eyes were a stormy gray, and seemed to swirl like the sea just before a storm.

"Who are you?" She called out, her voice surprisingly clear and light. I was expecting a growl.

"We could ask you the same question," I replied, watching her every move.

"Are you strongs?" She asked, her eyes narrowing.

I snorted. "Are you a strong?" I shot back.

She looked at me for a long moment before relaxing. "I'm Mia," she said, then out of nowhere, a glob of water almost hit me in the face. It would have, had I not ducked just in time, causing it to hit Lissa.

I felt a smile spread across my face. "So you're a wet one, huh?" I asked, smirking. I turned and let a warm fire spread over Lissa, drying her in a few minutes.

When I turned back around, I saw a friendly smile on Mia's face. "Do I get your names?" she asked, tilting her head to the side.

I considered for a moment. It was obvious that she was a strong, so there was no way in hell that she would report us to any fighters, but I wasn't ready to completely trust her yet. I'd heard of strongs defecting, and selling out other strongs just to save their own lives. Sickening, really.

But I figured that knowing our names wouldn't really do much harm. After all, names mean little in this world.

"I'm Rose, and that's Lissa," I said, gesturing at the two of us as I said our names.

Mia nodded. "And you're a strong fire, but what is she?"

I hesitated. We'd kept it secret for so long, it was odd to even think it. But for some reason, I wanted to trust this odd girl. "She's a strong spirit." I said slowly.

Mia looked surprised. "Never met one of those before. Of course, I haven't really met much of anyone in the last year or so. Unless I stumbled onto one of those camps, but nobody, short of those living in the camp of course, want to stay there." She looked at Lissa curiously. "What can you do?"

Lissa hesitated. "I can...well, emotions are easy to read for me. And I can heal, like cuts and stuff. Maybe a broken bone. But that's all," she replied.

Mia nodded thoughtfully. "Well, I've been experimenting with my water, and I've gotten really good with it."

I nodded. "Same here. I've been practicing the entire time we've been gone, and...hey, we should practice together," I suggested.

Mia stared at me for a moment. "That's a great idea!" She finally said excitedly, then, without further ado, shot a whip like stream of water at me.

I barely had enough time to duck, while Lissa screeched and fell to the ground to avoid it.

I straightened up, all humor gone from my face. "Oh, so you wanna do it free for all? Then let's do it." I focused my fire energy, and whipped it out similar to what she did, except going for her legs. She jumped up at the last minute, avoiding, and instantly sent back a wall of water, which, instead of hitting me like a wave, wrapped around me like a blanket, threatening to suffocate me, drown me. I held my breath.

It was everywhere; I couldn't get out. Using the last of my breath, I let my fire build up on the inside, and exhaled fire as if spitting water. The wall evaporated around my head, and the fire followed it down my body, getting rid of it. Before Mia even had a chance to think, I sent a rope of fire, wrapping it around her, just hot enough to make her uncomfortable, but not enough to burn her. I didn't want to kill her; after all, it was a mock battle.

Mia gasped, feeling the heat, and frantically wrapped water around the bonds, breaking them. But I didn't give her a chance to retaliate as I sent fireballs at her like a meteor shower. She put up a shield of water, casing the fire to be put out, then threw the shield at me, hitting me in the chest and making me stumble back. Not to be outdone, I grabbed a rock from the ground, and put fire around it, throwing it like a Molotov cocktail. She ducked away, and as she turned her head away, I let smoke fly into her eyes. She breathed in the smoke, causing her to cough. While she stumbled around, trying to get the smoke out of her eyes, I threw a ball of pure fire at her, catching her in the stomach. It forced her to the ground, and I strode forward, throwing more of the fire, until I was standing above her, at which point I let a blanket of fire surround her, pinning her to the ground.

I called off the smoke, grinning at her. "I win," I said smugly. I let the fire dissipate.

Mia sat up, blinking. "Woah. That was awesome!" She exclaimed. "How do you do the fireballs? I know how to do steam and fog, but how would I do the balls? I've tried before, but they're more like raindrops."

I shrugged. "You just really have to focus your energy into a small ball, then throw it," I explained.

Mia nodded, scrambling up. "Ok, um, lemme try." She got a look of intense concentration on her face, and held her hand out.

After about a minutes, a small ball of water grew in her hand, get larger. The water spun, like a whirlpool, the blue shifting to white in places, before going back to blue.

"I did it!" Mia laughed. "I -" The ball burst, covering her with water. "-didn't do it," she finished glumly.

I patted her shoulder. "Don't worry about it. It took me ages to get it. Just keep practicing, okay?" She nodded, and opened her mouth to say something, but got cut off my Lissa.

"What the hell were you two think?" She screamed. "You could have killed someone! Don't you ever, _ever_ fight like that again! What if one of you had lost control? All hell would break loose, that's what!"

Mia hung her head in shame. I simply looked at her calmly as she finished her rant. "Are all done now?" I asked.

She gave a curt nod. "Good," I replied. "We need to practice, so yes, we _will _fight like that again. And lose control? Magic is all about control! We _can't _lose control, or there will be no magic _to _control!" I took a deep breath and ran a hand trough my hair, grimacing when my fingers caught on the tangles. "Now let's go, we've stayed here too long." I looked around cautiously. "You never know what's out here."

The other two nodded, the atmosphere shifting to something more serious. "Let's go."

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_A/N: Sorry for the long wait; I was working on another story, I'm Only Me When I'm With You. Checkit out; I wrote it with author ChelseaJayBayBeh. Do read it, please: _ www . Fanfiction s /8228125/1/Im_Only_Me_When_Im_With_You just remove the spaces(: Thank you all for reviewing!


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